Chilly Scenes of Star Wars
by KSherwood
Summary: Scenes of various Star Wars characters across the different movies experiencing winter. Some vignettes will be funny or romantic. Some will be sad.
1. Anakins First Winter

"Obi-wan. Obi-wan."

Obi-wan Kenobi tried to ignore his apprentice by snoring loudly.

"I think there's a fire."

The Jedi's eyes snapped open immediately, earning a resentful glance across Anakin Skywalker's currently fearful expression.

"Where?" Obi-wan asked.

"I don't know. But look out the window."

He turned to see the ground blanketed in white and sighed. "It's just snow, Anakin. It's a normal part of weather in non-arid climates."

"It looks like ash," Anakin said, somewhere between curious and defensive.

"Yes," he admitted. "Once we were sent on a rescue mission after a volcanic eruption. It looked like winter had come to the tropics. But it's something you'll get used to now. That's why I insisted on that coat you said was too itchy."

Getting out of bed, he stretched, and, deciding to be nice. "We have an extra day before we have to go back to Coruscant. After our morning meditation, we'll use this time to enjoy the winter."

Anakin's expression shifted to the utmost suspicion. Obi-wan ignored him and settled down on the floor for a meditation session.

"We may as well begin now."

...

"I don't like this. It's too cold."

"Anakin. This is barely below freezing. If you are ever assigned a mission to a planet like Hoth, you will need to build your resistance to the cold and its tricks. Use the living Force to keep yourself warm."

"And it's slippery. I bet you can't use the Force to do anything about that."

Obi-wan stopped and debated for a moment. He wanted to scold his apprentice, but a memory of his late master flitted across his mind's eye. And Master Yoda might not entirely disapprove. Planning to meditate on his gratuitous use of the Force later, he snatched snowflakes from the air to form a compact snowball. Then he turned swiftly around.

"Defend yourself!"

His snowball caught Anakin squarely in the chest.

"What are you doing!" Anakin demanded, brushing his front off.

Obi-wan was already forming another snowball, the old-fashioned way. "This is Phase II of your lesson on winter… a snowball fight!"

"Hey! Ouch! Hell's… stop it!"

"Not with so much ammunition, Anakin. Defend yourself!"

And he did. His first throw hitting Obi-wan in the nose. Fortunately, the snowball wasn't hard and broke apart on impact.

They finally stopped their game and returned to the ship when Anakin complained of numb fingers. But he was finally more cheerful than he had been in weeks. And apparently tired out, too, for by the evening, for he was quiet during dinner and went to bed without any argument.

The next morning, Obi-wan went to wake him for their journey, and was alarmed not only by his apprentice's color, but also the temperature of his skin, when he accidentally brushed the boy's face, going to shake his shoulder a bit.

"I don't feel so good," Anakin muttered, pulling the blanket over his face.

"Stay in bed," Obi-wan said, as he left the room to go and inform the counsel that their return would be delayed.

"I don't like winter."

He closed the door. "I know."


	2. Jedi on Ice

Yoda stepped onto the ice with his usual calm, although his ears perked up in discomfort as soon as he was off dry land.

"Have patience you must, and find balance." He addressed the group of other chaperoning Jedi and the large group of young trainees. "Those of you old enough, I want you to use the Force not, while on the ice you are."

A pause while some of the older students and even a few of the Jedi grimaced. Yoda stumbled a little on his skates but caught himself.

"An exercise in discipline will this be," he continued. "But fun you will have, too, hmm!"

The Jedi duly began to make their way onto the ice. Most of the more experienced skaters spent most of their time picking up their colleagues as they fell, and soothing the young trainees when they hurt themselves falling.

Adi Gallia, on the other hand, was very good on skates, twirling and taking the less timid out to the center of the ice, well away from the safety of the rails. The Tholothian smiled, her blue eyes flashing brightly when she took one more five-year-old back to the sidelines and finally skated toward Master Yoda.

"Your turn," she offered, holding her hand out.

The other Jedi brightened as Yoda's ears twitched in response to the offer.

"Need one, I do not," Yoda protested. "The young ones, focus on you should."

"This would be a good example for them," she replied.

"Hmmf," Yoda grumbled, letting her take his claw.

She skated out slowly to the center of the ice. Then, she spun him around, herself managing to stay perfectly still, then letting him go for a second, did a figure-eight around him. The other Jedi in attendance laughed an applauded.

"Leads to the Dark Side of the Force, pride does," Yoda said, but then giggled as she looked sheepish. "Perhaps, do this more often you should, Adi Gallia. Much discipline you have, to become so skilled. Good would it be for you to teach others."

"I would like that."

"Speak to the Council, I shall. Perhaps funding we shall find. Now take me back you must!"

 **Author's Note: This story was inspired by post/70332402635/daily-advent-sithmas-countdown-december-14-yoda.**


	3. Cocoa on Coruscant

Heavy winter rain beat down on the large windows of Padme's Coruscant apartment. Neon lights flickered into the room from the street as she paced back and forth, practicing her latest speech. Then there was a knock at the door.

Anakin, who had been about to doze off from boredom, quickly stood up and went for the door. Reaching out to the Force, he did not sense any ill-will, and was vaguely surprised to find a droid holding a tray of hot chocoloate.

"Enjoy." It thrust the tray into his hands and disappeared.

"Did you order this?" Anakin asked, turning around.

"Oh good, it's here," she said at the same time. Then added, "I thought you'd like some, too."

"Thanks." He stood still, puzzled, as she took the tray and began to serve. "I didn't think you'd like this."

"I love hot chocolate," she said. "And it's too late for coffee. I don't know how Chancellor Palpatine drinks it all day long."

"He probably doesn't sleep," Anakin suggested, accepting a delicate cup. "This is good."

"I had them make it like they do in the mountains of Naboo. When I was a girl, my parents and I would always go there to ski in the winters. Those were some of my favorite memories."

"Ski?"

She nodded. "It's a way of navigating the landscape without machinery. On planets where it snows year-round, it's still not uncommon for infantry to use skis for mobility, especially when they need to move quickly. Some Jedi are quite good at it."

"Obi-wan kept me away from the snow after my first experience with it," Anakin said, with a trace of bitterness. "That was the sickest I've ever been. I slept for a whole week."

"I'm sorry." She glanced over at the table where her speech lay waiting then looked back to the young Jedi. "I'll take a little break from my preparations. I think there's some old holo-recordings from one of our trips. Just so you can see what I'm talking about."

She rummaged through a box of holotapes for a moment, and then came up with one. "Please, sit down."

A blue, flickery image showed a much younger Padme, about five years old, struggling to stand up on her skis, until her father finally pulled her up onto her feet.

"That was my first time," she explained, smiling in embarrassment. "But watch my mother."

Anakin turned his attention back to the tape, where her mother waved to Padme and her father, and then disappeared like a bird down the mountainside, out of the frame. The image pixilated, and then refocused with an older, more confident-looking Padme successfully skiing up closer to the recording device with a broad smile.

"It's like flying," Padme said, sounding dreamy.

"Why not use a speeder?" Anakin asked.

"Skiing is traditional. And it doesn't use any power, so if your speeder breaks down, you can still cover the distance. And skis are lighter."

"I could fix the speeder and get there faster."

She pointed her teaspoon at him. "Now you're just being difficult."

He grinned.

"You would like it if you tried it. If the Jedi Council ever lets you visit the mountains of Naboo, I'll make sure you and Master Kenobi get a few lessons."

"All right." Anakin raised his teacup. "I'll hold you to it."

She laughed and picked up her speech again. "I can't wait."

 **Author's Note: I had a specific history example in mind for Padme's line about skiing being used by the military. Check out this video for more information: h** **/lWi2Kclq0DE.**


	4. A Sith in the Snow

Count Dooku walked silently through the snow, at last coming to a stop. He knew he was standing in a vulnerable position to any attackers, but he also knew that he was utterly alone. After a moment of stillness, he reached out with the Force and pulled a few snowflakes from the air, making them hover close to his face for further inspection.

How perfect they were. Intricate. Symmetrical. _Balanced_ , a long-repressed voice within him whispered, making him momentarily close his eyes in pain.

He opened his eyes again and let the snowflakes fly away.

Snow was chaotic, too. He'd seen the bad storms, the blizzards, and the crushing cold over many years.

Evidently, the Sith saw use in it, for he had seen Darth Plagueis' catalogue of snowflakes in his master's private library. Dust-coated and neglected.

And yet snow was Light. It even made its own, in a way.

It was the middle of the night, and yet the endless blanket of white, and more falling from the sky made it seem like dawn was much nearer than it really was.

Dooku pulled another group of snowflakes to him. But he did it too quickly this time, and they fused together, making a blob.

Perhaps he was like these now malformed snowflakes. Besides his reputation for coldness.

No matter what he absorbed from the Dark texts, or how he followed Sidious' bidding, a flicker of Light stubbornly burned within him. It was the part of him that always hoped Obi-wan Kenobi wouldn't be killed or even seriously harmed. Or that Jocasta Nu and Qui-gon Jinn, wherever in the Force he rested, could forgive him.

He hoped that now. More fervently than he had felt anything in longer than he cared to remember.

Hoping to banish the feeling of sorrow, Dooku summoned some anger from the Dark Side and slapped the ball of snowflakes to the ground, where it blended in with the millions of others.

As he turned around and returned to his ship, the snowfall lessened, and by the time the count was on board, it had stopped.

 **Author's Note: This piece was inspired by image/104353602385. Clearly, it got darker in translation.**


	5. The Snow Princess

Bail Organa sighed as he walked through the snow. His daughter was nothing if not _stubborn_. Not that he should have expected anything else.

Her "snow castle" was easy enough to spot. It was a grove of evergreen trees that he knew well, and the snowman "sentries" were a dead giveaway, even if he hadn't already been told where she was. He approached an opening in the branches and called out "Leia."

"I'm not coming inside," she shouted back, with as much fierceness as a six-year-old could muster.

"I know," said Bail. "I only wanted to see your castle."

There was a moment of silence. Then. "All right. You can come in."

With difficulty, Bail ducked under the branches and into the clearing sheltered by the trees. It was surprisingly clear of snow. Leia had brought toys, a few books, winter fruit, and a few pastries with her.

Leia herself was sitting on a branch, probably ruining her skirt with the sap, evergreen needles and the odd twig sticking out of her braids. He smiled a little, in spite of himself.

"This is an impressive stronghold you've created," he said.

"I've got thirty snowballs back there," she replied, proudly.

"Good. And where will you sleep?"

She pointed at a pile of coniferous needles near his feet. "Don't step on it."

"I'm sorry." He looked around for a place to sit that wasn't covered in sap. Seeing none, he squatted down on the ground, resting his chin on his hand. "Yes, Leia. This is all very impressive. But do you realize, we'll have a lot to discuss if you declare a sovereign territory in the heart of Alderaan?"

"Like what?"

"Rules… laws, taxes, holidays… trade, just to name a few," he took his hand away from his chin, to let it rest on his kneecap. "We'll have to write a treaty, I think."

"Well, what if I want to keep everything and just be on my own?"

"We'd still need a treaty, just to make sure there aren't any serious disputes that might come up in a few years." He stood up. "Why don't you come and have dinner, and we'll discuss it?"

Leia paused in thought. Bail didn't press her. He could see that she was getting cold. After a moment, she nodded and hopped off her branch.

Bail stood up and held out his hand. Leia took it, and they exited the snow castle together.


	6. Maul Seeks Shelter

Darth Maul walked through the wind, aware of the rapidly dropping temperatures. It was no good. He would simply have to stop for the night and wait out this storm. Cursing loudly to himself at the inconvenience, he at last ducked into a cave.

It was only marginally warmer, but at least he was out of the wind now.

He built himself a small fire, ate, and leaned back against the driest piece of wall to sleep.

A few hours later Maul blinked himself awake, not sure what had disturbed him.

A small feline creature was sniffing his artificial legs curiously. Inwardly, he cursed Kenobi again, and thought of killing the animal immediately in response to the insult. He slowly began to reach for his lightsaber when, to his astonishment, the creature stepped onto his knees and began to walk closer to him, its lamp-like eyes glowing in the dark.

When it reached his lap, it stopped, placing one paw on his chest, and sniffing his face, gently. Almost instinctively, the hand reaching for his lightsaber went to the beast's ear and scratched.

The little cat rubbed its face against Maul's hand, mouth slightly open, showing its fangs. Finally, it butted his hand away, hopped down, and disappeared into the depths of the cave.

He thought of following it, but then a violent gust of wind invaded the mouth of the cave, and he quickly struck fresh life into his dying fire, latching onto the heat.

In the morning, Maul saw the cat's pawprints in the snow that had blown in during the night, but there was no sign of the animal. He had thought of catching it and taking it with him.

With it gone, there were no hopes of adopting a pet. Angrily, Maul kicked away the ashes and cinders of his campfire, awakening a few orange sparks.

Cursing again, he stomped his way out of the cave and back into the snow.

About a mile into his journey, his anger gave way to a sudden feeling of loss. That animal was one of the few beings he'd met that seemed to like him. Perhaps he shouldn't have given up so fast. Perhaps if he had searched the cave a little more, he could have found it and brought it with him.

"Cat," he called out, hopefully.

A twig snapped somewhere and he turned around, almost smiling. But then he saw it was only snow falling out of the trees.

He wanted to be angry again, but somehow, this time, he couldn't quite manage it. And alone still, Maul resumed his journey.


	7. Desert Winter

Old Ben (né Obi-wan) Kenobi watched the twin suns of Tatooine rise. It was the planet's winter solstice, and while winter meant virtually no change in temperature, the solstice meant a longer night. Moisture farmers used the extra dark to harvest more of their precious product. It wasn't a day to celebrate, but one of extra work.

He celebrated, though. In his own, quiet way. On his latest trip into town for supplies, he had bought a small fruitcake.

The shopkeeper had laughed, and said that she only ever stocked one, because he was the only person who ever bought them.

"I'm insane; haven't you heard?" He replied, making her laugh again, as he wished her a good morning.

He certainly found his fondness for the sweet, once a year, almost crazy. His late master, Qui-gon Jinn, had been very fond of them, but as an apprentice, Obi-wan had always hated them, and never even tried to introduce them to Anakin. But a few years into the Clone Wars, he had suddenly wanted one. At first, he tried to shrug it off as attachment, but eventually he gave in and indulged, buying a slice from a high-end coffee shop in Coruscant, feeling closer to Qui-gon than he had in years.

Perhaps he should have created a tradition like that with Anakin. They ended training early on the winter solstice, but they never established a routine. The closest they came to a tradition was tinkering around with the droids. That decision, for which he no longer remembered his reasoning, rested along with his many regrets.

But now, he didn't feel them. All through the day, as he waited for the suns to begin their early descent, so he could enjoy his cake with a glass of Bantha milk, he felt very much at peace, thinking of happier times, and feeling hope for the future.


	8. Cold Imperial Calculations

Snow fell heavily from the sky, blanketing the ground around Tarkin's family hunting lodge on Eriadu. The governor himself stood at the window, watching, and waiting for the other Imperial officers he was entertaining to congregate for breakfast. Not Lord Vader, of course. He had been invited out of necessity, but had declined. As was to be expected.

Vader never rested. No wonder he barely retained his sanity, Tarkin thought, as he looked for coffee.

Justine, the housekeeper, was already pouring it for him. He thanked her with a nod. She smiled, just on the side of propriety, and disappeared down the servants' hallway.

The other officers began to appear in the breakfast room. Captain Needa, as always, looked woebegone. Though today, some of that at least may have been due to the fact that his seat was directly in front of a stuffed Veermok, killed by Tarkin's father thirty-some years before. Needa nodded politely to his host and began to pour coffee for himself.

"I suppose there isn't much point in going out for more game today," Admiral Piett sighed. "We still have leftovers to finish, and it's against regulations to bring any new catches back to the Death Star with us."

"We'll retrieve the traps," Tarkin said. "Anything caught during the night, my staff can have. We can use the remaining time to catch up on reports before returning to duty."

His guests murmured in agreement. Someone said something about the weather making it likely to have at least one new bird. He went to the table and began to start the passing of breakfast dishes around the table.

"I've already looked at a few reports," Admiral Motti announced, sounding pleased with himself. "The core tests of the Death Star are promising so far, but underwhelming."

"What does Erso say?" Piett asked.

"According to his most recent calculations, it would take at least three blasts to destroy a planet."

"The Emperor will never accept that," Tarkin helped himself to a piece of toast.

"Still, it's more terrible than anything the galaxy has ever seen," Needa interjected.

"Krennic expects that by the next test, the Death Star's strength will double," Motti reached the wrong way and took the coffee pot from Piett. "We should still be on schedule. Perhaps we should even take the opportunity to choose a target for field testing. I think Tatooine would make an excellent start. It would do the entire Empire a favor."

A few officers chuckled, although Tarkin and Piett did not smile.

"It should be saved until we are absolutely sure of its success, better to ensure surprise and demoralization," Piett said.

"And if the first shot does not obliterate the planet, its inhabitants could warn other systems, possibly even the Rebellion, or even escape. We have to achieve maximum casualties. Besides, Tatooine is too sparsely populated to make an effective target." Tarkin picked up his knife and glanced around the table. "Pass the marmalade, would you."

 **Author's Note: I had a lot of fun with Peter Cushing's film career here. I've hidden a few references to his Hammer horror films. See if you can spot any.**


	9. Luke's First Winter

"This is snow?" Luke Skywalker stood at the end of the walkway from the ship, staring at the Hoth landscape. "It's great!"

He stooped down and gathered up a handful.

"It's water, right? Is it safe to eat?"

Chewie snorted in amusement. Han clapped Luke between the shoulder blades. "You're holding up the line, kid. Yes, it is. But this type of snow isn't any good."

"It isn't?" Luke asked, his tongue half extended toward his hand.

"It's too dry," Han continued as they began to walk towards the Rebel base. "You can't do anything fun with it."

Luke licked the snow out of his glove. "Like what?"

"Hide, build a snow fort, have a snowball fight," Han looked at one of the other Rebels, who was smiling in amusement. "Am I forgetting anything?"

"It's good if you take some and add milk and forest honey," he said. "Maybe they'll let us do that some chow-time."

"Anything else you can do with it?" Luke asked.

Chewie growled affirmatively, handed his pack to Han, and quickly fell over backwards into the snow, spreading out his arms and legs several times like he was doing jumping jacks. Then he leapt up, making a pleased sound.

"What's that?" Luke looked at the snow then became aware of the shape of a winged creature. "Oh."

He smiled, and Chewie cuffed him on the shoulder, almost knocking him down.

"Master Luke," C-3PO mincingly marched over to the young Rebel, who was sitting in the mouth of the hangar, still in his snow gear, watching the landscape. "I have been requested to inform you that it is time to shut the door for the night, due to the temperature drop."

Luke sighed. "Okay, fine."

He got to his feet, turned and waved to a technician, who began to close the door.

"Sir," the droid said. "I do not understand why this frozen landscape holds so much fascination for you."

"I've never seen anything like it before. It's neat," he explained, walking deeper in the compound. He paused to unzip his coat. "I like it. I hope we stick around here a while."


	10. Darth Vader's Frozen Heart

Darth Vader walked slowly through the snow on Hoth, his mechanical breathing the only sound. The Snowtroopers and officers knew not to disturb him until he returned to finalize cleaning out the remains of Echo Base.

Now that the actual battle was over, his personal oversight of the task wasn't needed. And there was something he wanted to do. Away from prying eyes.

A strong gust of icy wind struck him, making his cape billow out behind him. It almost struck him as funny. Anakin Skywalker had hated the cold. Darth Vader enjoyed it. In the frozen atmosphere of Hoth, the pain of his old burns and the itching of his artificial skin didn't trouble him as much as usual.

His cloak was dotted in the snow raised by the breeze as he stood, returning to his memories.

Vader began to lift snow from the ground with the Force, grunting to himself in frustration when he discovered the snow was far too dry to hold any shape unaided. Now using the Force to hold the snow together, too, he began to gather the crystals into a roughly five-foot pillar, then shape it into the form of a beautiful, richly dressed woman.

Padme Amidala stood silent, white, and glittering on the Hoth tundra.

"Just as I remember you," Vader said. "Beautiful, lively… delicate."

When he momentarily loosened his grip on the snow, her face began to dissolve, and he quickly repaired it.

"But not so delicate, given that our son still lives, fighting with the Rebellion."

Snow Padme, of course, said nothing, and continued to stare blindly at Darth Vader.

"I have much to say to you," he continued. "So many questions. About our son, among others. How did you arrange it? And why, would you send him to Tatooine? I never knew. I suppose that was what you wanted. And I cannot blame you."

He raised his hand, so that he was almost touching her frozen cheek. But he hesitated, so as to avoid damaging her face again.

"I gave up everything for you, but I killed you. I loved you too much."

For several minutes he was silent.

"I don't know if you can even hear me." He slowly drew his arm back to his side, unable to say anything more. Even alone, he couldn't admit that he wanted her to hear him, and that he would give it all up to be with her again.

His breathing sounded heavier than usual for a moment, and then he turned away, walking determinedly back toward Echo Base.

With each step, the snow statue began to collapse on itself.

Perhaps he hadn't realized he was doing it, but as he released the snow, he held onto the snow forming Padme's face the longest. He had almost reached the troops again by the time she had completely dissolved.

 **Author's Note: This was inspired by another Sithmas art piece: image/168732728877. This actually inspired the whole story. I've been working my way back to this.**


End file.
